Floor machine



p 1932- AJE. NORRIS 1,877,951

FLOOR MACHINE Filed Sept. 26. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2/ a 2 22' 22 INVENTOR flLF/mp Nome/5 141M Q I i A TTORNE YS' WITNESS 22 22' gwzam Sept. 20, 1932. A. E. NORRIS 1,877,951

FLOOR MACHINE Filed Sept. 26. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 I .6 1 1 I A I ll 57 n I 67 /48 i flu. um- I 111 O mu [1 11mm 20 39 own l 2/ WITNESS 1N VENTOR it FREQ E. /V0/'?//.5

A TTORNEYS Patented Sept; 20, 1932 m L'HOBBIS, OI WESTFIIIJ NEW BT10], WAY,

JERSEY, ASSIGHOB '10 m BEGIIA convo- NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF HEW JERSEY FIAlO IACHIHE Application fled September 86, 1980. Serial No. 484,501.

My invention relates to floor machines of the type actuated by an electric motor and having a plurality of brushes mounted in a casing housing the motor and provided with A a waxing unit as an attachment thereto.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved shaft for the brushes and an improved type of bearing supporting such brush shafts.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of waxing unit for use in connection with such floor machine and an improved method of attaching such unit to such machine, whereby my improved waxing unit may be removably secured to the floor polishing machine, such waxing unit being so constructed as to deliver to the floor, in advance of the brushes the lit proper amount of wax to be spread by the an equal and uniform disbrushes, whereby the floor to be tribution of the wax over lished is obtained.

A still further object of the invention is to provide the brushes of my improved floor machine with pads of felt suitable for bufiing the waxed floor, such pads being removably secured to said brushes in a novel manner.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the casing of my floor polishin machine with the waxing unit mounted in rout of said casing;

Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssectional view of the apparatus showing the manner of attachment of the yoke of the handle thereto;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my apparatus showing the waxing unit mounted in front of the casing;

Fig. 4 is unit;

Fig. 5 is a view of the novel felt bufiing pad adapted to be secured to the brush of the floor machine, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of one of the brushes showing the method of attaching the bufling pad thereto.

My floor olishing machine comprises a casing 1, pre erably composed of two parts, 2 and 3, provided with a telescoped oint 4,

a front elevation of the waxing the upper end of a brush shaft 11 by aofiset slightly from the median line of the machine, the two parts being rigidli secured together in any suitable manner. T e casing 1 is provided with an enlarged chamber 5 in which is housed electric motor 6. On each side of the enlarged chamber 5 are two cylindrical chambers 7-7, the vertical axes of which are parallel to each other. The casing 1 supports the bearings for the motor sha 8, mounted in bushings 9-9, of any suitable material, being cut away on one side adjacent the vertical chambers 7-7 to permit the worm gears 101O mounted on the upper ends of the brush shafts 1111, to mesh with the right and left hand worms 12 and 12' with which said motor shaft 8 is provided and through which the rotary motion of shaft 8 is trans erred to the brush shafts 11-11 to drive them in opposite directions. The casing 1 is preferably provided with two cover plates 13-13, each fitting 'over the vertical cylindrical chambers 7-7, forming a closure therefor.

Each worm gear 10 is preferably ke ed to ey 14 and is permanently retained thereon by a nut 15. Each brush shaft 1111 is provided with a thrust or bearing collar 11 and is preferably mounted to turn in a bearing 16 forcedinto and permanently retained in the lower portion of a cylindrical chamber 7. The bearing 16 is a full bearing extending throughout the length of the space between the lower end of the shaft 11, i. e. from the thrust collar 11, and the worm gear portion of the chamber 7 as I have found that such a full bearing gives a more rigid and durable structure and may be more easily assembled than the divided or aligned bearings of the prior art. Beside the marked advantage of my new type of construction in providing a greater bearing surface, with resulting increased structural strength, my improved bearing structure obviates the difliculty heretofore experienced in pressing a double hearing into a position which it should retain during the operation of the apparatus.

There being no substantial support a inst the side walls when the two portions 0 a divided bearing are inserted from the top and machine upon 7 tachlnent of the means of the v position against the wise described as bottom, any extraordinary pressure of the machine upon the floor to be polished, or even g It bumping of the machine over the surface, would force the lower of the bearings upward, causing the brush shaft to lift upwardly, thereby raising the worm wheel and preventing a proper, meshlng of such wheel with the worm gear. centered originally, thus rapidly wears away, and a noisy and inefficient operation of theapparatus results. WVith my unitary bearing, which may be further supported 111 a fixed eliminated.

Each of the brush shafts 11 is provided with a helical groove 17 having an upward turn. This helical or spiral groove, being Inclined in a direction opposite to that of the direction of rotation of the brushes, serves to prevent oil or grease leaking from the upper portion of the cylindrical chamber 7 in which the worm gear is housed, through the bearlng chamber, downwardl through the brushes onto the floor. The machine is thus effectively eliminated, the spiral groove on the brication for the brush shafts.

Mounted on the brush body is a flanged hub 18, through which may be passed a screw 9 for supporting the brush bed 20, having embedded therein a plurality of bunches of bristles 21 and supporting the weight of the the-floor. Tie manner of atillustrated in the drawings h me and I thereto. It is pointed out, however, that by metal loop 22, of the brushes is provided, being rigidly se cured thereto b 'bolts 23, 23, such brushes may be removed" simple operation inserting a finger through the drawing the brush off from the end of the shaft by exerting a jerk on the loop.

he metal loops 22, which may be otherfinger grips, are each p vided with a female part 22 of a snap fastener adapted to receive one of the male parts 23 of a snap fastener, such male parts being mounted at the centers of opposite faces of a circular pad 24. The pad 24 is of a size apof the horizontal surface bristles, so that pad is secured to the nger-grip of the brush by means of the cooperating portions of the snap fastener, it will substantially cover the surface of such bristles.

When the operation of waxing the floor with my apparatus has been completed, buffing of the waxed floor by means of the felt of inverting pads may then be accomplished by attach- The worm, accurately wall of the bearing chamber by set screw 16, these disadvantages are from the apparatus bythe f ing the pads to the brushes by the simple operation of snapping the male members of the fastener structure into the female members, thereby automatically centralizing the brush, the pad being secured to the finger grip in the space within such annular area, leaves only that portion of the pad upon which the bristles exert a-downward pres sure, in contact with the surface to be buffed,

portion of the snap fastener 1s well above the floor. It is to be noted that pad of bufiing material were merely placed aginst the bristles of the brush, great care would have to be exercised to have such pad exactly centered as the rotation of the brushes in such close proximity to each other in opposite directions would soon result in an interference of the two pads with each others rotation and necessitate the stopping of the machine and the pads. With my novel structure and means of attaching the pads to the brush, the pads retain their proper positions below the respective brushes and perform their bufling functions without interference with each pther and without possibility of working oose.

A further advantageof my structure is that a particular pad, after one of its sides has been used for bu easily disengaged from its position and reversed to present its opposite side to the floor pulling on the pad to disengage the engaged male portion 23 of the snap fastener from the female portion 22, reversing the pad, and

accomplish this result after the pad has been centered on the brush.

Within the chamber 5 and rigidly mounted on the motor shaft 8 may be provided a fan 24 drawing air into the motor chamber for cooling such motor.

The casing 1 is also preferably provided with a yoke 25 whic is pivotally secured to opposite sides of the casing at the ends of the yo e screws 26-26.

preferably prog a slight depression in its upper surface adapted to be engaged by a spring pressed plunger 28 housed within a projection 28 of the yoke 25, is in substantially vertical po ition, to hold the handle of the appartus in a vertical position when the machine is not in use. The usualcable 29 and electrical plug 30 connect th m o 6 to the handle 31.

At one end of when the yoke iii The waxing unit designed for use with my improved floor machine comprises a cylindrical wax container or reservoir 32 having a cylindrical neck 33 at its lower end and a cover 34 provided with a bayonet type of lock 35 to prevent the cover 34 from being disengaged from the top of the reservoir when the waxing unit is overturned, thus preventing the flowing out of the waxing material therefrom in case of accidental overturning of the unit or in casesuch unit is laid upon its side after being removed from the casing. In order to provide a further safeguard against the accidental overturning of the waxing unit and toprovide facility in filling the container with waxing material when disengaged from the casing of the appartus, I provide such waxing unit with a support 36 in the form of a lug to keep it upright when detached from the machine.

The neck 33 of the waxing unit terminates in a cylindrical chamber fitting into the upper portion 37 of the carriage body 38. The lower A portion of the carriage constltutes a housing within which are mounted two small intermeshing spur gears 39 and 40. The forward gear 39 is rigidly keyed to a shaft 41 mounted to rotate in aligned bearings 4H3. On the ends of the shaft 41 are wheels 4445 of the carriage rigidly secured to the shaft in any suitable manner. The wheels 4445 are preferably provided with rubber tires to provide suflicient friction to secure their rotation on the polished floor. The above described carriage and gear arrangement, comprising a mechanically operated pump for delivering wax from the reservoir to the floor, is not original with me and I make no claim with respect thereto.

Immediately below the inte-rmeshing portions of the teeth of the gears 39 and 40 is a small chamber in communication withva passageway extending vertically downwardly into which are fixedly secured two thin walled tubes 4647 extending laterally from the center of the carriage at the lower end thereof and having their openings at a distance from the central point between the wheels of the carriage so that the wax issuing from such tubes is deposited at points to the side of the central line of the apparatus and in advance of the brushes. By providing such a duplex outlet for the wax instead of the single central outlet heretofore used, I overcome a marked disadvantage of apparatuses of this type heretofore employed. When a single centrally located aperture is used the waxing material issues from the container of the waxing unit at a point exactly midway between the brushes and when the apparatus is propelled forwardly, the rotating brushes fail to uniformly smear the waxing mate-rial over the surface to be waxed and in fact leave a distinct streak of undistributed wax along the line of travel of the apparatus. It is therefore usually necessary to go over the same area repeatedly so as to eliminate the streak of wax left by the rotating brushes. Since the wax is being fed always midway between the centers of such revolving brushes, it is impossible to absolutely eradicate the streak of waxing material left upon the surface over which the apparatus has just been. passed. By means of my novel construction of the outlet from the waxing unit utilizing two out-lets, each extending laterally to a point at a distance from the central line of the apparatus, I make possible the absolutely even distribution of the wax over the floor to be polished, as such wax is fed in two streams, one each immediately in advance of a brush which distributes such wax over the area which it traverses.

Since it may be desirable to use my floor machine without the waxing unit, I provide a construction whereby such waxing unit may be easily detached from the casing of the floor machine, As shown in Fig. 3, the lower forward edge of the casing 1 has an enlarged portion 48 having two vertical recesses 49, 49 into which may be placed one ofthe' leg portions of U-shaped supporting elements 50 rigidly mounted by means of their threaded. leg portions and nuts 51 on a platform 52 provided on the carriage 38 of the waxing unit. By reason of this construction of detachably securing the, waxing unit to the casing, a proper positioning of the waxing unit in advance of the brushes is assured at all times, the U-shaped elements 50 being capable of riding vertically within the recesses 49, 49 so that, irrespective of the pressure exerted upon the brushes by the operator of the apparatus, which may change the distance of the casing from the floor surface, the waxing unit will have its wheels frictionally engage the surface of the floor with a uniform pressure. The feeding of the wax by the mechanical gear pump which is dependent'upon the frictional engagement of the floor surface by the wheels, will therefore be uniform irrespective of the force with which the apparatus is pressed against the floor and irrespective of the speed with which the apparatus is moved over the floor.

I claim:

1.. In a floor polishing machine, the combination of a housing, a motor ournalled on a shaft within said housing, a brush shaft journalled in said housing to rotate on avertical axis, ,a brush at the end of said shaft and a waxing unit detachably secured to said housing by means including a pair of shaped elements rigidly connected to said waxing unit and having one of the leg portions of each of said pair of U-shaped elee ments positioned within a vertical recess in said housing, whereby said waxing unit is freely movable vertically and independently ofsaid housing. a 1 a 2. In a floor-polishing machine, the combination of a housing, a motor journalled on a shaft within said housing, ,a brush shaft journall'ed in said housing to rotate on a vertical axis, a brush at the end of said shaft'and a'waxing unit comprising a reservoir for wax and a carriage supporting said reservoir and 10 having freely rotatable means mounted to roll onthe floor and to support the weight-of said. unit on said floor, said waxing unit being provided with apassageway extending vertically downwardly within said waxing 15 unit, a pair of tubes extending laterally and downwardly from the center of thecarriage and having their openings at a distance from the central point between the 'wheelsof said carriage so that the wax issuing from such m tubes is deposited at points tothe side of the central line of the apparatus and in advance of the brushes. p

3.: A waxing unit for use with a floor polishing machine, comprising a reservoir for wax, a carriage supporting said reservoir and having freely rotatable means mounted to roll on the floor and to support the weight of said unit on said floor, said waxingunitbei ng provided with a passageway extending m vertically downwardly within said unit,'a pair of tubes extending'laterally and down wa'rdly from the center of thecarriage and having-their openings at a distance from the central point between said freely rotatable means so that the wax issuing from such tubes is deposited at points to the side of the central line of the waxing unit, and means for detacha-bly securing the waxing unit to r the floor polishing machine with which it is 540 to be used, including a pair of U-shaped elements rigidly connected to said waxing unit and having one ofthe leg portions of each of said pair of U-shaped elements vertically disposed and depending in substantially parallel relationship with such carriage, whereby said waxing unit is freely movable vertically and independently of the floor polishidng machine with which it is adapted to be use i 1w 4. A waxing unit comprising a reservoir,

for wax and a carriage supporting said reservoir and having freely rotatable wheels mounted to roll on the floor and to" support the weight of said unit on said floor, said waxing unit being provided with a passageway extending vertically downwardly with insaid waxing unit, a pair of tubes extending laterally and downwardly from the center of the carriage and having their openings at 'a 560i distance from the central point between the wheels of said carriage so that the wax issuing from such tubes is deposited at points to the side ofthe central line of the waxing unit. 65 ALFRED E. NORRIS. 

